Mount Nittany Fills More Than 2,000 COVID-19 Vaccination Appointments on First Day of Self-Scheduling

Mount Nittany Health launched its online self-scheduling tool for COVID-19 vaccination appointments on Friday morning, and as expected it was met with high demand.

All of the medical center’s available appointments through Feb. 9 — more than 2,000 — were quickly filled by residents in Phase 1A of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan, including those age 65 and older, as well as those age 16 to 64 with high-risk medical conditions.

Dr. Nirmal Joshi, Mount Nittany’s chief medical officer, said in a statement that the health system has requested “significant additional quantities” of the vaccine from the Department of Health, which manages the supply for Pennsylvania.

“Our goal is to vaccinate as many people as soon as possible,” Joshi said. “Unfortunately, at this time, demand for the vaccine greatly exceeds supply locally, across the state, and across the nation. We will open more clinics as DOH provides us with additional vaccine.”

Mount Nittany expects to receive information from the health department on Monday about the amount and timing of future vaccine shipments, Tom Charles, executive vice president for system development and chief strategy officer, said in a video update.

The website will be updated on Tuesday with information about appointment availability beyond Feb. 9.

Charles said hospital officials are “gratified” to see the high level of interest in getting the vaccine among the local community, but cautioned that demand is expected to significantly exceed supply “for a period of time.”

“Rest assured we are doing everything we can to secure additional quantities of vaccine and to quickly vaccinate individuals once we have that in hand,” Charles said.

Though the vaccine is gradually being distributed to more of the population, Joshi said continuing to follow prevention measures remains vital.

“While vaccination is a critical step in mitigating the spread of the virus, it will take time for enough of the population to be vaccinated to make a significant difference in the spread of the virus,” Joshi said. “This is why we must all continue to mask, practice social distancing and frequently wash our hands. We appreciate the community’s patience as we work to vaccinate as many people as possible with the goal of putting an end to the pandemic.”

As Centre County’s only hospital, Mount Nittany received the first shipments of the vaccine in December and January to be distributed to its staff and approximately 3,400 community health care workers.

On Jan. 19, Pennsylvania expanded Phase 1A eligibility to include everyone 65 and older, along with those ages 16-64 with certain underlying medical conditions that make them more vulnerable to the virus. Those include cancer, chronic kidney disease, COPD, Down syndrome, heart conditions, immunocompromised state resulting from a variety of factors, obesity, pregnancy, smoking, sickle cell disease and type 2 diabetes.

Several providers in Centre County are registered to offer the vaccine, though each has reported high demand for limited supply. Boalsburg Apothecary and Moshannon Valley Pharmacy both have stopped taking names for their waiting lists until more of those already signed up can be vaccinated.

Rite Aid in Bellefonte is listed by the health department as a registered vaccine provider. The pharmacy chain has an online registration site for Pennsylvania COVID-19 vaccination, which on Friday said no appointments are available.

Weis Markets in Philipsburg is one of the supermarket chain’s locations offering the vaccine, but the Weis Pennsylvania registration site also stated all appointment slots were full as of Friday evening.

Centre Volunteers in Medicine has a waiting list for vaccination appointments. Mountaintop Area Medical Center in Snow Shoe has a vaccination request form on the Keystone Rural Health website, but submitting the form is not a guarantee of an immediate appointment.

Geisinger is offering COVID-19 vaccinations by appointment at its community vaccination centers, though as of Friday evening “appointments are temporarily unavailable,” according to the Geisinger website. Its nearest vaccination center to Centre County is in Lewistown. Information about registering for appointments is available at geisinger.org/COVIDvax.

An interactive map of registered COVID-19 providers statewide is available on the Department of Health website.

Through Thursday, 8,274 people in Centre County had received at least one dose of the vaccine, including 1,989 who have also received the required second dose, according to health department data. Statewide, 719,928 have received at least one dose, including 173,328 who are now fully covered.

Centre County added 60 COVID-19 cases and two deaths attributed to the virus on Friday, according to the health department.

Mount Nittany Medical Center was treating 28 COVID-19 inpatients between the ages of 13 and 96 as of Friday morning as hospitalization continue to trend downward since the beginning of the year.

Since Jan. 1, Mount Nittany has admitted 203 COVID positive patients, with an average census of 42 COVID inpatients per day. That puts the hospital on track for a decline from December, when it had 246 COVID admissions and an average census of 49 COVID inpatients per days.